


On Sleepless Nights...

by Shujinkakusama



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon What Canon, Drabble, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Sleepy Cuddles, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-18
Updated: 2016-11-18
Packaged: 2018-08-31 18:03:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8588350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shujinkakusama/pseuds/Shujinkakusama
Summary: Pearl doesn't sleep. Pearl never sleeps. This bites her in the butt every now and then, but Garnet takes advantage of that. // Pearlnet established, quick drabble, fluff.





	

Pearl rarely slept and even more rarely acknowledged a need to rest. She prided herself on it, valiantly kept awake for days and _years_ at a time—meditation didn’t count, she insisted, and she was careful now that the war was over not to poof often. It was luck alone that she’d successfully come back unchanged so many times.

 

Garnet didn’t have the heart to point out that post-coital cuddling was resting. She similarly didn’t have the heart to point out that Pearl _did_ sleep, especially after she’d been crying, because that would require admitting that she cried herself raw more times than either of them could count. It was silly, but Garnet wanted to let her have that little sliver of pride, even if it was based on a lie.

 

Of course, it was hard to ignore Pearl’s tendency to sleep when she was literally passing out as they walked. The slighter Gem was scouting ahead, determined to find the remains of the enemy base they were out to claim an artifact from—but every few steps she would falter, her Gem’s light would flicker to an image of her walking ahead, younger and dressed in the tunic she’d worn during the war.

 

There was nothing for it.

 

“Pearl, stop,” Garnet said firmly, and the smaller Gem obeyed, swaying on her feet. The sway was telling; the way Pearl’s feet dragged even more so. Garnet considered, briefly, calling her out, but that was unlikely to work. Instead she tried another angle:

 

“I’m tired.”

 

Pearl stared for several seconds, blinked slowly and swayed where she stood. “You? Tired?”

 

“Yep.”

 

It was abundantly clear that her lover didn’t believe her. But Garnet stepped forward, drew her into a hug, and buried her face in her hair. “I want to lie down,” she said smoothly, a rumble in Pearl’s ear that they both knew she couldn’t ignore. “Preferably with you, Pearl.”

 

Bony hands fluttered uselessly at Pearl’s sides for several moments before she managed to wrap her arms around Garnet’s waist, and perhaps if she weren’t so exhausted herself, she would have poked holes in that argument. But she closed her eyes, leaned her cheek against Garnet’s bosom, and it felt like she could fly.

 

More accurately, it felt like the world had dropped out from under her—and that wasn’t exactly wrong. Garnet scooped her up before she could fall more than a few scant inches, and Pearl might have protested being carried into the woods bridal style if she weren’t so far gone.

 

“But…” she tried to protest, shaking her head, valiantly trying to stay awake. “The mission?”

 

“Nope,” Garnet said firmly, and in the lee of a burnt out redwood tree, she found just enough space to sit comfortably, with Pearl settled firmly and safely in her lap. “Too tired. You’ll have to keep me warm.”

 

At this, Pearl laughed, because surely she’d never heard anything so ridiculous in her life. But her laughter tapered off in a sigh, and she raised exhausted arms to hug Garnet around the neck instead. Her eyes fluttered shut; breathing evened to a steady, slow pace—

 

“Are you tricking me into falling asleep in the woods?” Pearl asked abruptly, and it was Garnet’s turn to chuckle. She nuzzled her lover’s cheek and neck, pressing a kiss that might have been an apologetic _yes_ to her throat.

 

“Sounds like a thing I might do.”

 

“You’re terrible,” Pearl mumbled, “Absolutely incorrigible.”

 

“Mm-hum.”

 

Pearl sighed into her lover’s shoulder, peppering soft kisses along her neck as well, guiltily enjoying the reprise. The mission was far from her mind now, and as Garnet’s fingers worked deftly at her shoulders and back, she felt darkness swallow her completely.

 

And wrapped up in Garnet’s arms, she didn’t mind at all.


End file.
